Container handling conveyer



y 5, 1953 c. A. SHUTTLEWORTH 2,637,433

CONTAINER HANDLING CONVEYER Filed Dec. 9, 1950 Patented May 5, 1953 UNIT STATES PATENT FIG-E acsggiss Charles A. Sh fleworth, Warren 1 Application December 9, 1950:, seriahN'o-elimwfl (it Glaims. (01.. l98=-33l The resent invention relates: to container handling conveyors: has particular refiemenoo to; a conveying means primarilyv for dling cans.

One of the objects; off the invention is? to provide means. whiehiwhile.advancinacansrand: simr i-Iararticleswill; arrange; the cans; with, their vertical axes all in the; same; direction irrespective of the direction or the. axes, of the. wh n they are. deposited enathe conveyor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more 'iullyahereinafter.

The fu li natnre of the invention willbe under.- stood: from the accompanyingdrawings and the following description and claims;

"In the drawings;

Fig. I is a. plan view: of arconveyor embodyingrmyinventiom Fig. 2: a sectional View taken on the lines 2-'--2:of Fig. 1.

In the structureyillustratedlprovide; a frame which, may consist-f a. pair of channel; iron side members I0 and H suitably' sunported on vertically disposed; posts or legs; lia-whichi may be: located 'atzspacedintervals.

A plurality or .snp ortingcomeyors 13 which may consist of a: series of transversely spaced apart iron belts operate at one 'endon: rollers M on a shaft I15 mounted; suitable bearings; l6 supported onitheisidezmemihelts I10 and- H oi-the frame; These: belts. likewise opera e, e suitahlerollers 11;! mounted onsleeves llagin; turn-rotatabJy-mountedcn ashaitifivszuitably snpnqrted in bearin sxlal; on thepsideymembers. t0 and LL. Thewrollers M are fixed? pon and driven train the shaft while the rollers l1- heing; mounted on, the sleeve {8; are rotatably mounted on the sh ififii a.

adj-acenteach. side of the supporting convey.- ors; 13 travel, pairs ofstraightening conveyors and 2!. The straightening conveyors 20 operate over rpu lleysrflifixed one mzshaiti n mounted: in suitable bearings onthe sidemembers l0 and H. The straightening conveyors 21' operate on pulleys-15 rotatably mounted on the shaitdt; The; opposite ends of the straighteningoo'nveyors; 20 are'carriedby pulleysfZE-whicl'r "are-.110- tatably mounted on the shaft- I-9 while the opposite ends of"the"straightening conveyors 2'1 operate on pulleys 21 rotatably fixed to the shaft IS. The shaft 23 at one end is provided with a driving pulley 28 which drives a crossed belt 29 in turn driving a driven pulley 30 fixed on the shaft I9.

It should be noted that the pulleys tor the 2; strai htening: belts 20;, II are: considerably arger in diameterpulley i for thereonveyorbelts t3! anda'asoal-ifesult although thQ Bl FQS r the shafts of, these n la eys are-in. horizontal aliemneni the stfia ightemng belts operate. aha higher lcveIL than the level; of the conveyors H.-

The shaft 23; is providedwith-a driving pulley 3:2; driven hya belti'33, imam; a pulley mounted on. theshaft of; a: driving motor 3.5., shait n5 is; pro ided with a riv n pu le 35;, driven from a pulley on; the shaft oil the'driuing moto .35. The: relative vsiaes of, the pulleys: 3.3 difi d nd amsuch hat thestraightome belts mand ll arelaimant a considers-131x greaterne Sp d. han he; l neal-eased of the conveyors; l;3-.

r eliver ng he ontainers. to th c nvey hens I311 provide a suitable conveyor apron: which passes; over: roller 3a-mmmtedvon a. shall ou supported in suitable hearings on th id members; it; and H; and this apron is;- drinen thro gh the medi m a pulley 4| fixedon the shaft 40;. having aibeltconnectionlz;with annulleyamounted on thezshafitila,

It: is; to b noted thatthe bear n s for the shaft 40 are mounted on uprights 44 whichra-i'se the roller 3 9: and- -accordine y the-delivery: end; of thehelt 3,8 somewhatu-ahoyes thehorizontal level oi the convey rs. .3 However, thisele at 's somewhatiless :thantthes height of a-canor other containers to e handled so that. as the can. i delivered to the r-conyeyor belts: 1-13 it I will} never Inez-dropped muchramonn n as 941348511316 a verticalror p s tp si i nr,

hew rith of thescqnre orhelts t; 'isless than he: ength of theeans.or;= ther conveyors to be handled; Accordin ly, as.- he; cans. and for y o v nience; he" cont iners; will? lways h reinafte be referred to as cans, are deliyeredirom the delivery conveyor 38 01111321: the conveyor belts lair anycfthczcanshanmn a s-delivered w ir-v r cal xesi x ending -,transversely to. the inetravel; the-b lts; J 3..-, the ends, f, the cans la ne cmss the belts wil1,come-;in-.Contact with the straightening, conveyors-i, .201 and. 21' vor withoneof the sarn -With thesstraightening connexion 241; travelling; atia sreaten speedpand in the direction of theaconi' i ovhelt ,l3 them will bea ifin'dfinflyriflr thmm hot endithe a in contact with the belt 20 in a straightening direction and with the straightening belt 2| travelling in the opposite direction, if the can should be lying in a position with its end in contact with the straightening conveyor 2| the end will be kicked over onto the conveyor belt 2|.

As a result of the action of the belts and 2| or either of the same the cans which might have been deposited with their axes extending transversely or at an angle to the line of travel of the conveyor belts 13 will be straightened out so that their vertical axes are in alignment with the line of travel.

After the cans have been straightened out on the belt [3 they will be deposited on removal belts or take-off belts 45, one for eachof the conveyor belts l3. These belts run over their respective pulleys or rollers 46 at one end, which are mounted upon a shaft 47 driven through a driving pulley 48 belted as at 49 to a pulley 50 on the shaft of the driving motor 35.

The opposite end of the belts travel over rollers 51 mounted on a shaft 52. These-take-off belts are comparatively narrow but the can is maintained against tilting of the same'through the medium of pairs of guide rails 53, disposed above and on the-opposite sides of the belts 45. These guide rails are approximately th width of the diameter of the cans so that the can is prevented from rolling while on'the narrow take-off conveyor belts 45. The guide rails are supported on cross bars 54 suitably supported in standards 55 mounted on the side rails It and l 1.

These take-oft conveyors 45, it will be noted, are disposed at a'lower horizontal level than the horizontal level of the conveyors i3 and if desired this level may be so adjusted that it is approximately equal to the height of the can so that the cans as they are delivered from the conveyors I3 onto the conveyors 45 will be tilted to be supported on the conveyors 45in an upright position.

Under these circumstances the guide rails 53 would, of course, prevent the cans from tilting.

It is to be noted that the conveyor belts [3 are less in width than the length of the container or containers to be handled thereby. This arrangement, therefore, will permit the straightening belts 20 and 2l to engage the ends of a container in event it is cooked on the belt l3 and straighten the same so that its vertical axis lies parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor belt 13.

In the event it is not desired to deliver the cans to the take-off conveyors 45 in an upright position the differential between the height of the conveyors I3 and the conveyors 45 need not be so great as to cause the can to tilt in a vertical position when delivered onto the conveyors 45. Under these circumstances it may be desired to deliver the cans in an upright position to the final conveyor and 'in this instance the final conveyor 56 riding over pulley 57 at one end, is located at a sufficiently low level so that when the cans drop off the can 45 they will drop into an upright position.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a container handling conveyor the combination with a supporting conveyor having a width slightly less than the height of the container to be handled of a pair of straightening conveyors disposed on opposite sides of said supporting conveyor and travelling in opposite directions at a lineal speed different than the lineal speed of the supporting conveyor.

2. In a container handling conveyor the combination with a supporting conveyor of a width slightly less than the height of the article to be conveyed thereon, of a straightening conveyor disposed at one side of and at a level higher than the level of the supporting conveyor and travelling at a lineal speed difierent than the lineal speed of the supporting conveyor.

3. In a container handling conveyor the combination with a supporting conveyor having a width slightly less than the height of the container to be handled thereby, of a straightening conveyor disposed on one side of said supporting conveyor at a height above the height of the supporting conveyor and travelling in a direction opposite to the direction of the travel of the supporting conveyor.

4. In a containerhandling conveying means the combination with a supporting conveyor each of which has a width slightly less than the height of the container to be conveyed thereby, a pair of straighteningconveyors disposed on opposite sides of said supporting conveyor and travelling in opposite directions, the speed of the straightening conveyor moving in a direction coincident with the direction of travel of the supporting conveyor being different than the speed of the supporting conveyor, and a delivery conveyor disposed in advance of said supporting conveyors and having an elevation above said supporting conveyors less than the height of a container to be handled.

5. In a container handling apparatus the combination of a plurality of supporting conveyors disposed adjacent to one another, each or" said conveyors having a width less than the height of the containers to be handled thereby, a pair of straigh ening conveyors disposed on opposite sides of each of said supporting conveyors and travelling in opposite directions, the lineal speed of the straightening conveyor travelling in the direction of travel of the supporting conveyors being difierent, a delivery conveyor disposed at one end of said supporting conveyors, a plurality of receiving conveyors disposed at the opposite end of said supporting conveyors, one for each of said supporting conveyors, and pairs of spaced apart guide rails disposed above each of said receiving conveyors.

6. In a container handling conveyor, the combination with a supporting conveyor having a width slightly less than the height of the container to be handled, a pair of straightening conveyors disposed on opposit sides of said supporting conveyor, means for driving said supporting conveyor, and means for driving one of said straightening conveyors in the opposite direction to said supporting conveyor and the other straightening conveyor in the same direction as the supporting conveyor at a greater lineal speed.

CHAR-LES A. SHUTTLEWORTH.

Reaves Apr. 8, 1930 

